Jock Campbell, Baron Campbell of Eskan
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Jock Campbell, Baron Campbell of Eskan | |
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Booker-McConnell) in British Guiana | |
Relatives | William Middleton Campbell (grandfather) |
John Middleton Campbell, Baron Campbell of Eskan (8 August 1912 – 26 December 1994), known familiarly as "Jock",
Childhood and youth
Jock Campbell was born on 8 August 1912 to Mary Charlotte Gladys Barrington (1889–1981) and Colin Algernon Campbell,
Family background: the slave trade
It was John Campbell (Senior), Jock's great-great-grandfather, ship owner and merchant of Glasgow, who, towards the end of the 18th century, first established the fortunes of the Campbell family in the West Indies, through the Atlantic slave trade. At the time, Glasgow trading houses, long-experienced in servicing the needs of North American slave plantations, were ready to capitalise on new opportunities in the sugar industry arising on the West Indies. By the 1780s they were supplying the two most important British exports to the West Indies, herring and coarse linen goods.[4]
Among the principal beneficiaries of this booming trade were John Campbell (Senior) and Company, which supplied merchandise to the slave plantations along the coast of Guiana, then in Dutch hands. It was in this role of supplier that the company first began to acquire plantations along the Essequibo Coast of Guiana, from planters facing bankruptcy. By the 20th century, the company of Curtis, Campbell and Co had its established place in the British Guiana
Campbell later remarked often that, in acquiring estates through foreclosure, his ancestors became de facto slave-owners. Campbell himself abhorred slavery, and it was in fact the urge to make good the misdeeds of his own family that was the catalyst for his own reformist ideals.[9]
On 5 May 1971, in the House of Lords, Campbell dissociated himself from his ancestors, arguing that "maximising profits cannot and should not be the sole purpose, or even the primary purpose, of business."
Arriving in British Guiana
Jock Campbell went to British Guiana for the first time to take charge of the family estates, arriving in 1934.
Politics
British Guiana/Guyana
In British Guiana, Campbell met his foil in Cheddi Jagan. Jagan, himself the son of Indian indentured servants, quickly gained the confidence of the sugar workers, and in Guyana's first general elections in 1953 became Prime Minister.
Campbell was willing to work with Jagan, as both had the same aims, but Jagan made it clear that the sugar industry would be nationalised after independence. Jagan was removed from power by the British due to his Marxist leanings;[10] in his place came Forbes Burnham.
United Kingdom
From 1964 to 1981, Campbell was chairman of
On 14 January 1966, Campbell was created a
He was active in the House of Lords on behalf of the Labour Party.[2]
The Booker Prize
It is after leaving Guyana that Campbell, who had always loved great literature, became instrumental in the initiation of a British literature prize.
He was an old friend and golfing partner of Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond spy novels, who had recently been diagnosed as terminally ill with less than a year to live. During a game of golf Fleming turned to Campbell for advice on securing his estate for his family from heavy taxation. Campbell initially advised Fleming to turn to accountants and merchant bankers, but then had a new idea: Bookers could act as bankers for Fleming, beneficially for both parties.
As a result, Bookers acquired a 51 per cent share in the profits of Glidmore Productions, the company handling the profits from worldwide royalties on Fleming's books, and the associated merchandising rights – but not the film rights.
Thus was born the Bookers Author Division, with the injunction:
It should make money, not to mention being entertaining, and there could be advertising interest in it for some of our companies.
Bookers later acquired the copyrights of other well-known authors, including novelists Agatha Christie, Dennis Wheatley, Georgette Heyer and the playwrights Robert Bolt and Harold Pinter. It was the copyrights of Agatha Christie which, over time, contributed most to the profit of the Authors Division.
The
Milton Keynes Development Corporation
Jock Campbell was chairman for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation from 1967. The large, central park initially called City Park, was renamed Campbell Park in his honour. There is a memorial stone in his honour which reads simply "Si monumentum requiris, circumspice". ("If you seek a monument, look about you", referring to the urban landscape created by his team.[14])
In June 1973, Campbell was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University.[15][16]
He stepped down from the post of chairman of Milton Keynes Development Corporation in 1983 and was replaced by Sir Henry Chilver, who remained in post until Milton Keynes Development Corporation was wound up on 1 April 1992.
Arms
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See also
Notes
References
- ^ "John ('Jock') Middleton Campbell, Baron Campbell of Eskan (1912-1994), Businessman; instrumental in founding The Booker Prize". National Portrait Gallery.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54790. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Interview with Lord Jock Campbell". The Living Archive. Milton Keynes. n.d.
- ^ ISBN 0-7486-1790-6
- ^ Comerford, Patrick (January 2023). "Roots in slavery and Ireland: how Jock Campbell's vision helped shape Milton Keynes". patrickcomerford.com. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
- ^ a b Parker, Peter (4 January 1995). "OBITUARIES : Lord Campbell of Eskan". The Independent.
- ^ "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-107-04005-2.
- ^ "William Middleton Campbell". Mackintosh Architecture. University of Glasgow. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ The Suspension of the British Guiana Constitution – 1953 (Declassified British documents)
- ^ "Why I am voting Labour by Sir Jock Campbell | Greater good for the greater number", The Observer, 4 October 1964, p. 10.
- ^ "No. 43873". The London Gazette. 14 January 1966. p. 435.
- ^ "Baron Eskan Looks Back in Pride". Helensburgh and Gareloch Times. 19 January 1966.
- ^ Cycling in Milton Keynes
- ^ "Honorary graduate cumulative list" (PDF). The Open University.
- ^ "The first degree ceremony". History of the OU » Blog Archive. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage. 1973.
Further reading
- Frederick Errington and Deborah Gewertz (2004), Yali's Question: Sugar, Culture and History, ISBN 0-226-21746-9(pb). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 60637.
- Slinn, J. and Tanburn, J. (2003), The Booker Story, Andover: Jarrold Publishing, ISBN 0-7117-3439-9.
- ISBN 978-9766371937.
- Peter Parker (4 January 1995). "Obituary: Lord Campbell of Eskan". The Independent. London. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
Writings
- Jock Campbell and others, Britain, the EEC and the Third World, Praeger Publishers, 1972